No place like home for Brown

Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008

If returning 17 starters from a team ranked No. 2 in the nation isn't enough to get Georgia fans jacked up, this weekend's NFL Draft might have served as further validation that the cupboard remains full in Athens.

For the first time since 2000, the Bulldogs didn't lose any players deemed by the league's talent evaluators as worthy of being taken in the first three rounds.

Actually, it wasn't until late in the fifth round Sunday - with the 161st overall pick - that defensive end Marcus Howard was the first Bulldog selected by Indianapolis.

"It's surprising," Howard said. "I thought myself and Thomas would go a lot higher. We won the Sugar Bowl and I thought when you win ballgames, players get recognized.

"He's going through the same thing I'm going through. It's a height issue."

The 5-foot-8, 201-pound Brown is Georgia's fifth all-time leading rusher with 2,646 yards but his size and durability dropped him down draft boards.

It was quite the weekend for Brown, who married longtime girlfriend Jessica Brown on Friday at a small ceremony that included family and some Bulldogs teammates at West Mitchell C.M.E Church.

"Right down the street from the Georgia Dome," Brown said.

The Tucker native will try to land a roster spot on a team close to home that drafted former Bulldogs Martrez Milner and D.J. Shockley the previous two years.

The Falcons' tailbacks include Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood.

"I'm very excited," Brown said in a teleconference. "It's been a dream of mine, especially coming from Georgia and being born in the city of Atlanta. Now having the opportunity to play professional football with the Falcons is like a dream come true for me."

Howard said his agent told him that New England considered him in the third round when they went with 6-5 Michigan outside linebacker Shawn Crable over the 6-foot-1/2, Howard because of his height.

"I'm a little disappointed, but I'm glad I'm in the NFL right now," Howard said. "There were a couple of guys just like me (drafted earlier) that I felt like I was better than. I'm not going to name any names but they went a lot higher than me on the height situation."

Howard said before the draft that the Colts were looking at him as a defensive end in their "Tampa 2" system. Other teams viewed the Huger, S.C., native as a 3-4 outside linebacker.

Indianapolis has starting defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Howard called them two of the best in the game.

"We went with a speed rusher today because we felt like he had the same qualities as a collegian that Robert Mathis did," Colts general manager Bill Polian told NFL Network. "He had the same physical qualities - 4.47 speed, 240 pounds, a successful rusher, 10 1/2 sacks in the SEC, not a bad league - so we think he gives us the opportunity to have a third rusher if anything happens to the other two."

Coutu, who made 53 of 66 field goals with a long of 58 yards, was the second kicker selected after Wisconsin's Taylor Mehlhaff, a sixth-round pick of New Orleans.

Coutu will compete with Olindo Mare to replace the departed Josh Brown.

"They were vocal that they wanted me to be the next kicker for the next 10 years," Coutu said. "I hope I get the opportunity. I didn't think it would happen that late. I thought I'd go two rounds before that. What happened, happened. I was at Georgia without a scholarship and had a chip on my shoulder and everything worked out, and I feel like this is kind of the same situation."

Notes: Fernando Velasco said Sunday night he has signed as an undrafted free agent with Tennessee as a center/guard. Running back Kregg Lumpkin said he will sign with Green Bay. Receiver Sean Bailey said he will sign with Kansas City and safety Kelin Johnson said he's signing with Seattle ... Adams was the first Georgia player drafted by Chicago since kicker Kevin Butler in 1985. He's expected to play guard ... Coutu is the first Georgia kicker drafted since Todd Peterson went in the seventh round in 1993.